About Me

I am now a full-time stay at home mom (yet still an accountant at heart...there may be a travel agent somewhere in there trying to get out too!) I now stay home with the four boys that God has blessed me with. I also have a wonderful husband and love our life together. I am a glass half-full kind of person and look for the adventures that are out there waiting for me every day.

28 December, 2009

I just had to blog about this, I guess. My boys have been so cute the last couple of days but I'm also realizing how fast they're growing up and that kind of makes me sad. Last night, Xander decided that he wanted to put himself to bed. He brushed his own teeth and said his own prayers and even claimed he didn't want cuddle frog. Cuddle frog only lasted about 15 minutes and then he wanted "his guy" again but he didn't even want us upstairs while he was doing all this! He also said to me that he didn't want to be read to before bed. It's nice to see them becoming independent, because that's what we aim for but I'm not so sure I'm ready for that, yet!

Tonight we decided to take them out for supper to a restaurant. They're actually old enough to go to a family restaurant and not scream or wreak havoc! It's nice to be able to go out sometimes. They did so well. We went to a restaurant that we often frequent but had absolutely horrible service tonight. We don't usually have so much trouble there. I'd said to Jason that if I didn't know it wasn't usually like that, I wouldn't come back. Usually we can have appetizers, meals and dessert in under an hour. Well, we went at about 5 and the place was dead. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to be an important table as they pretty much ignored us, didn't even clear the dirty dishes when they brought our food and it took us an hour and 45 minutes for a simple meal...no appetizers, no dessert. Needless to say, they did not get a tip. Anyway, the boys were so good the whole time. They were hungry and really wanted their food but they obeyed and stayed relatively quiet the whole, extra long time! They are growing up so fast - especially that was enough to start making Mom and Dad a little grumpy!

At bedtime tonight, Xander also convinced Evan that he should put Evan to bed. At first Evan tried to get Xander to carry him but I was sure to put a quick stop to that. However, they then grabbed hands and went up the stairs together. Xander helped Evan brush his teeth (sort of) and then "read" him some books and said prayers with him. I sat on the landing and listened because it was SO cute. Then Xander said good-night and turned off the light and walked out. Evan started crying a bit and when Xander got to the landing, he says to me, "Evan started crying when I left. Should I go sleep with him for a little while?" I just asked him if he thought he should and he said yes and climbed back up the stairs. His "a little while" was about 2 seconds and then I asked if he'd sung to Evan and he went back up and sang about 4 songs to him. When we left Evan was crying a bit but I thought I'd see if he would go to sleep. He didn't (and I'm kinda glad to know he still need Mommy). When I went up later he was sitting there crying "Where my bear? Where my bear?" I found it for him and then cuddled for a few minutes and all was well again. I hope they don't outgrow me too quickly because I still love my cuddles and snuggles!

Anyway, we are now enjoying a week off after Christmas and it has been really good. Xander even slept in until 10:15 on boxing day. I was shocked but he was tired! That meant I got to sleep in until 9:40, which is the first time in I'm not too sure how many years! We went swimming yesterday for my niece's birthday and I keep thinking how we should take the boys more often. They love it so much. We spent almost 2 hours at the pool and they were just barely ready to go. They even BOTH devoured supper after that! Tomorrow I get to go have manicures with my sister-in-law and I'm looking forward both to the visiting and the pampering so it should be a good day. My brother is going to bring the kids over to our place to play so the boys should enjoy that, too. Anyway, I should go to bed at a decent time tonight. This week I need to work on my finances and my P365 pictures so maybe I'll have some more posting later on!!

OK. I've been a bad blogger between Christmas and being sick but I figured I'd better get these up!! Scraps of Ellay has had TWO new kits out that I need to blog about! Both of these are straight to the store releases. First is the newest (and a very special) one.

It is called Never Give Up and Ellay designed it for a member of our Creative Team...Noelle. She has been very involved with the Special Olympics with her daughter and needed a kit to scrap her pictures. Ellay was kind enough to design this kit for her! And...since the Special Olympics are such a good cause (you can check them out here) she is donating all the proceeds from this kit until 2/5/10 (her birthday). In case you're scared off by theme kits...it can be used for SO many other things! I used it to make two of the pages for the calendar I've ordered from Shutterfly. First is my March page:

The next is my November page...also the word art on this page was created by Noelle and she has it as a freebie on her blog for you here!

Below is a preview for the kit, which you can find in the store here. As well, Ellay will have a little freebie for you all on her blog later in the week. Don't forget to keep scrolling down to check out the next kit!

This next one (the older one) is called A Christmas Wedding. Ellay and her husband got married around Christmas so this was designed to scrap her photos. However, there is a tonne of romance, as well as Christmas in there and is versatile for many wedding or Christmas layouts! Here are the two I did. The first one here is the February page for my calendar:

The next is a Christmas LO from the year Xander was born. Our very first Christmas with more than two of us! It's not the greatest picture of me since he was born only 3 weeks before but it's mostly a head shot!! :)

I really loved this kit which is available in the store here. You can see the preview below and Ellay has a couple of related freebies on her blog here.

That's all I have for now. I'm really excited to get my calendar in the mail but I just ordered it so it'll probably be the middle of January (oops).

24 December, 2009

It's fairly late on Christmas Eve but I just thought that I should post a Merry Christmas to all on my blog. I really have fallen off the edge of the planet lately but I've had good reason ;). We got to head to Turtleford to be with the whole Stein clan for the weekend. It was a really good time and we even got to stay a little later to visit with my Mom & Dad after everyone left. While it was a great time with tons of food, sledding and even a few presents...I must say the fresh fish lunch on Monday was a highlight for me. I am very grateful to the gentleman from my parents church who dropped off some fresh jack for them. I have been craving that for a very long time! The boys loved the sledding at my brother's house (I'll post pictures later...I have about 500 on my camera at the moment :) ). Of course, Monday I got sick...lovely sore throat and all that jazz... I was very fortunate to be able to get in to see the doctor Tuesday morning so I got some antibiotics and have been doing much better now. What a way to spend my first week off!

Tonight we had a lovely candlelight service at church...at least, if you weren't trying to manage two boys who both wanted to be carried and held and use you as a jungle gym, it was probably very lovely. For me it was pretty nice, anyway. We sat at the very front but it was good because the kids could see the live nativity so well and Evan had the best view of the guitars. It was quite funny when two of the pastors did a special number. They both sang and played guitar, one on each side of the stage. Evan's eyes were just like a tennis match...first to one side then the other, checking out TWO guitars at once! Afterwards, we came home and watched The Grinch, had our Christmas picnic and opened presents. I got a scanner from my husband that should keep me busy with pictures for a long time now!! I also got the ever-loved and coveted Slap Chop from my boys so that should be fun with Xander :). It was fun because Xander is now old enough to open something and really get excited in an "I wanted that!!" kinda way. Hungry Hippos was his huge excitement tonight! Evan liked his toys, too, but he's not quite old enough to care too much. Jason liked his presents, too (I wouldn't splurge for the iPhone but I did get him an iPod Touch). Now, we have one more Christmas tomorrow and then a week off!! Yay! I will leave you with a Charlie Brown Christmas...one of my favourite summaries of the Christmas season:

Charlie Brown: Isn't there anybody who can tell me what Christmas is all about?

Linus: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights, please.

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

14 December, 2009

I bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the planet! Well, it's December, so I think maybe I had! Xander's birthday went really well and I got everything done kinda on time! He had a lot of fun, especially with his Ewok forest cake (pictures will come later). Since then, it's been shopping, cleaning, baking and trying to get some CT stuff done! I've barely been on my computer while I've been at home and I still have a ton to do before we leave town on Thursday to head to my parents for Christmas with them! One of these days, life will slow down, right?

Anyway, Scraps of Ellay has a new kit this week and...guess what? It's a FREEBIE!! Not only is it a freebie but it's a COLLAB FREEBIE - with Deanna from FlowerScraps. It's a really cute New Year's kit. Now, I am not known for my staying up late on New Year's Eve, let alone actually going out. Generally, I watch a movie or something tame like that. However, this kit also goes great with my wedding pictures...so, here are the pages I've done.

This will be the January page on my 2010 calendar (assuming I get it done before January's over).

This one of our wedding party is for the scraplift challenge over at STS (when I finally get around to posting it there, anyway :) ).

Isn't this a gorgeous kit? You can see both previews below and they will be released in parts all this week.

29 November, 2009

Hi. I don't have LOs done or pictures edited but I thought I'd just do a little update. There was a bit of a family crisis last weekend and that kind of took over last weekend. It didn't directly involve us but incidentally it did. It was really draining and exhausting and emotional and all sorts of things. The rest of this week was really spent trying to recover and get some rest. Not that recovery and resting is all done but it is starting to progress.

Christmas is coming soon, too...that meant that Saturday was packed full with a kids' Christmas party put on by Jason's work and birthday pictures for Xander. We went mini-golfing and the boys had a ton of fun. Evan just carried his ball around and dropped it into holes but he liked it. Xander's form wasn't so good but he even got a hole in one! That's better than I did. In fact, I think he beat me on almost every hole. Then they got to see Santa - now we don't believe in Santa and we've always told our kids that he's fictional (sorry if I just ruined that for anyone). They don't get presents from Santa or anything. We got in line and Xander didn't even want to go see Santa. He was scared of him. We didn't make him talk to Santa but just told him to take the present from the nice helper. They showed a movie after called Santa Buddies (I hope I don't offend anyone if I say I thought it was a dumb movie). I thought it was funny, though, in the opening scene when they showed Santa walking with a dog and some other little kid said "Santa!!" Evan looked at it and went "Puppy!" It was cute. After a very quick and all too short quiet time, we drug Xander to his birthday pictures. It took a bit of convincing at times but then he decided to ham it up for the photographer and we got some really cute pictures. It was a really exhausting day, that's for sure!!

I'm not sure when I'll get more stuff posted because this week promises to be crazy with a capital "C"! Between work, care group, grocery shopping, trying to get the Christmas decorations up and Xander's birthday/party this weekend, I don't think I'll be on here very much. I did rearrange the basement tonight and put up the little tree (no decorations yet) but now I have to move an old washing machine to access the rest of the Christmas decorations (that should be fun!). There are also the million and one other little things that need to be done! Oh well, no rest for the weary, I guess!

19 November, 2009

Well, I guess it's about time... I have three weeks of edited photos ready to post and I've just been too busy or napping to post them. I was gonna post this afternoon but Xander wanted me to lay down with him for a minute at nap time. I had gone to bed reasonably early last night and got to sleep in this morning but I must have been tired because a minute turned into 2 1/2 hours later. Then we had to get ready to go for a haircut tonight (Xander's). I didn't really think I was tired because I sure wasn't yesterday but I guess I needed it.

I guess that there may be people out there who read my blog and don't know this, either, but I'm expecting baby #3 in May. I have felt fine but I do usually get tired with pregnancy, though I haven't been nearly as tired with this one as with the other two. I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks (mostly because they were looking for gall stones) and I see why kids get called "peanut". At 8 weeks that's what they look like (and they're about the same size). The tech gave us a picture, then she asked, would you like me to label it for you? I think so, otherwise I have no idea which end is which!! Hee hee.

Anyway, we were out shopping tonight. I got Xander his 4 year picture clothes and I replaced the gloves that I seem to have lost since last winter. It was a good day to do it, though, because they were both on sale! This could be a long post now, though, so I will get to the pictures!

Day 277 (Oct 4):

Evan really likes to play with these trains. He doesn't really use the tracks but he puts them together and drives them around the coffee table. On the other hand, they are magnetized and break apart fairly easily so he also tends to get frustrated very easily with them.

Day 278 (Oct 5):

This was the second bracelet I got from the hospital this weekend. Sunday was the day of my gall bladder attack and this bracelet was from Monday's return for the ultrasound and more sitting in Emergency. So much fun, eh? It actually hasn't been too bad. I haven't had an attack since but I've come to the realization that some of those funny momentary pains that you just ignore 'cause they don't last are kinda in the spot that the Dr. said you usually feel gall bladder. We've tried to cut out fast food for the most part (we still do subs and tacos - they shouldn't be too bad) and I try to be conscious about the fat I eat (and sugar from a previous pregnancy - I just can't eat anything good, anymore!)

Day 279 (Oct 6):

It's getting later in the year...almost winter time. I knew it this day because I got up at my normal time and saw the sun rising. The days are getting shorter. We haven't quite gotten to the point where I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, but it's close. Though, I realized something the other day, I'm thankful that God didn't make the shortest days of the year coincide with the wintery-est part of winter. After Dec 22nd, they start getting longer and the coldest, blizzardy-est days are January, February and even March to some extent. We just have to deal with one thing at a time.

Day 280 (Oct 7):

Now, I didn't say it ONLY snows and is cold in Jan, Feb & March...this was the first snowfall of the year...October 7th. It wasn't much and disappeared quite quickly but we're coming to realize that - after the last couple years - Thanksgiving can be a treacherous travel holiday. I have seen snow much earlier in the year than this (August, even) but it has been such a crazy weather year...you'll see more craziness to come in a few pictures.

Day 281 (Oct 8):

My sister and her husband came through the Thursday before Thanksgiving as they were on their way to Manitoba (and the roads were miserable both ways!) I took a whole bunch of pictures of them sitting there (that's the risk you take when you come to my house), but I liked this one the best (right Colette?). My cousin and her husband came through the same night going the other way (from Manitoba) and we decided we were glad we did not plan on going to Manitoba, too.

Day 282 (Oct 9):

It was really cute...this is Evan playing with my cousin's kid who is about the same age. I have a picture from shortly before this where they were "eyeing" each other up. Then Evan got all cute and hid under the sheets and kept making Bella laugh. It was very sweet! We were also able to have a good visit that morning. I haven't seen this cousin in a while!

Day 283 (Oct 10):

Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend was pretty low-key. This is what we had for supper. I think that everyone should have breakfast for supper sometimes. Xander wanted cereal and I didn't feel like cooking so it worked out great!

Day 284 (Oct 11):

Sunday...I seem to have a lot of pictures of Xander eating. I'd forgotten what this was of. Now, I remember! Due to my previous gall bladder attack, he was introduced to subs this week and that is now his new favourite food. He just loves them and wants to eat them all the time. He has ham and cheese with lettuce, mayo and mustard.

Day 285 (Oct 12):

Thanksgiving Monday...Xander was just too cute watching TV like this in the morning. It was so low-key, we didn't even have turkey. I usually really want turkey but, the Friday before, I'd made roast chicken with potatoes and stuffing and corn and pie for dessert so it was like I'd already had my Thanksgiving meal. I made pineapple chicken for Jason's family this day. It was good except none of the children ate well. Oh well, I guess there's always days!

Day 286 (Oct 13):

This is the book that we're studying in our Bible study group. I usually read the next chapter Tuesday or Wednesday at lunch before our group. It's quite a book and is really challenging. In fact, in a lot of ways, I'm having trouble processing everything in there! I think this is one that I will have to re-read (maybe over the Christmas holidays) after we're done studying it. It's really a pretty radical book.

Day 287 (Oct 14):

Guess what? It's cold and flu season. We've started using these with some regularity. Poor little boys, mostly. It seems that Evan gets lots of colds and Xander not so much (one like each of their parents). This Wednesday was the exhausted Wednesday as it was the night before that Evan had been up from 1 - 4 a.m. and then I didn't sleep well the rest of the night because he was sleeping on our bed and coughing. Unfortunately, Jason was also sick so he and Evan stayed home and, after my 3 hours of sleep, I went to work all day. I needed more than kleenex by the time care group was over that evening! I was sooo tired.

Day 288 (Oct 15):

Thursday morning and more snow. What a crazy week. Really, though, when there's a fresh snow and you don't have to be out in it, it really is very pretty. This was all melted by the time we left for Mom's group at 9 a.m. This was also my nephew's birthday - happy late birthday on my blog, Jordan!

Day 289 (Oct 16):

Here is Xander in his feet jammies. He loves feet jammies. We got these for him in Indianapolis last December and he has worn holes in the toes, already. He would wear them all the time, if he could. He kept asking if it was gonna be cold so he could wear them, already. I think we'll get him a new pair for Christmas.

Day 290 (Oct 17):

Here is the really cute outfit that I found for Evan's pictures that he had taken this day. I couldn't believe I found something dressy and nice so easily! I always have so much trouble with boys' clothes but this even had a little tie. Believe me, he looked adorable in his pictures, even though he was a bit under the weather and doesn't smile much.

Day 291 (Oct 18):

Jason took Xander to the Model Railroad show Sunday afternoon. Xander had so much fun there that he had to stay until they closed. I think they were there about 2 hours or so. Xander got the little LEGO tattoo from a friend who had LEGO trains displayed. When they got home, Xander got Jason to pull out one of his trains and run it around the base we use for the Christmas tree. We may have to set that up again this year.

Day 292 (Oct 19):

I went grocery shopping this day and this is the only picture I have. Xander is putting all of the grocery bags into the garbage can. Often he stuffs it full and then you can't get anything else in. He loves to help so much!

Day 293 (Oct 20):

My older brother's birthday was on the 20th (still is ;) ). Happy birthday Jay! I put up tomatoes on Tuesday. It was tiring but needed to be done. I skinned them and then froze them because I had so many tomatoes I couldn't use up! This way, I can put them in lasagna or pasta sauce during the winter.

Day 294 (Oct 21):

This Wednesday our care group went to the church to volunteer on the building project (which is moving along...I haven't taken a picture of it in a while...not much is changing on the outside right now). Another lady who has back issues and I watched the kids while everyone else built things or helped haul away garbage or whatever. Jason helped build a wall. I was going to take my camera along but I totally forgot so this is a picture of the snacks I took for the kids...fruit roll-ups (I SO love them)!

Day 295 (Oct 22):

I spent a couple hours making meatballs on Thursday for Evan's birthday party on Friday. I made around 100 meatballs but it only took me an hour and a half or so. It actually went a lot quicker than I thought. It was a good thing since I was working on the cake, as well. I love this basic meatball recipe. I cook them ahead of time and then freeze them (usually). Then, when we want spaghetti and meatballs, I just pull some out of the freezer, toss them in the sauce, and reheat. This time I cooked them Thursday and reheated Friday. You cook them in the oven, too, which is SO much easier than frying them!!

Day 295 (Oct 23):

This was my baby's second birthday and party. I thought the cake turned out pretty cute. I overbaked the big one a bit and it wasn't the best tasting in places but we just didn't eat those places first! This is our scene from the Backyardigans' Super Secret Super Spy. We even got a Pablo car and I made the yacht that was headquarters. Evan really did great at his party. I wasn't sure how he's do opening presents or eating but he was awesome. It's kinda hard to believe he's 2 already. He's really turned into a little boy over the last few months and he really isn't a baby anymore.

Day 296 (Oct 24):

I didn't take an actual picture as this is already digital so I saw no point. I finally scrapped a CT kit I had to do on Saturday. I came out with this page and I have gotten some great reviews on it. I think it turned out pretty cute, too.

Day 297 (Oct 25):

This was Sunday. Xander always goes to see Pastor Bill between services on Sundays. Pastor Bill always gives him candy (and usually one to take to Evan). We're not really sure but somehow, on this day, Xander got a can of Cherry Coke from Pastor Bill. The thing is, this is a very coveted item by several people in our church - you can only get it in the U.S. so it kinda seemed like a big deal. I'm just hoping that Xander didn't just ask for it!

OK, if you're still with me Congratulations! I feel like I should have a prize for you, but I don't (unless you want to come over then maybe I can cook you something). That was a lot of pictures to write about and probably a lot to read! I'll have to keep posts down to two weeks of pictures. However, if I do that a couple times in the next bit, I'll be caught up!! Yay! I'm also trying to decide what to do next year. P365 has been fun, but it seems like I just take random, silly pictures so I have one for that day and they're not necessarily nice or even meaningful. I do like the thought of recording every day life, though, so I'm not sure what I will end up doing.

15 November, 2009

Ha ha! Scraps of Ellay has a new kit out today called Hard Rain's Gonna Fall. It's a weather related kit but also has a bit of an inspirational side to it. It's really pretty and full of some very rich colours. I want to show you the two LOs I did with it and then I will give you thinks (plus she has a freebie)...

This first LO is for the song lyric challenge at STS. The song was November Rain by Guns 'n Roses and I thought it fit so well with both this kit and this picture.

This next one was for the recipe challenge at STS and I really like how it turned out. I don't usually use hearts but I like it here.

Now, here is the preview of this amazing kit.

You can pick it up here at Ellay's STS store. She also has some freebie papers on her blog here.

Also, I do have three weeks of photos edited I just haven't gotten them up here yet. I guess my week was spent on other things...(like editing the photos). We did also have some company but that's not unusual. I will try my hardest to get them up sometime this week. That's assuming that I don't get caught up in another project! However, I did scrap three pages this weekend so that came along well. I even really liked a couple of them! Oh well, back to work tomorrow...and grocery shopping. I do enjoy those five day weekends.

11 November, 2009

Well, before I get to the kit that I'm about to show you, I just want to remind everybody that today is Remembrance Day (at least here in Canada). I know for many of us, it's hard to remember as we didn't live through the last major war. The ones we have been involved in of late haven't really affected us at home...they're just far away conflicts. It is kind of strange to me because when Jason & I visited France in 2002, we went to Normandy and visited the D-Day beaches and some of the cemeteries. It was neat then, but I find that as I get older and farther away from that visit it seems to become more meaningful. To be honest, I'd love to go back again. But until then...Lest We Forget...

Anyway, now on to the scrapping kit. Scraps of Ellay has a new kit in the store called Just Scrap It. It's a bright coloured kit full of all sorts of fun things to play with (I really liked the little stars, in case you couldn't tell). Here are two LOs I did with it. (The calendar is from JW Digiscraps - that page was for the Desktop Calendar Challenge at STS).

I love how this one turned out:

You can see the preview below and can pick it up here at the store. She's also got some worn paper freebies on her blog. You can check those out here.

Here is the preview:

Well, I've already baked a cake, made Jell-O and started supper and it's only 10:55 a.m. ... and that was after the boys let us sleep in until 9 a.m. (they played together quietly until then!). It's a productive day so far but I have more to do.

06 November, 2009

Well, tomorrow is National Digiscrapping Day (DSD) and there is a lot going around in the digiscrap world! I have two big sales to tell you about...

Eva Marina Scraps is having a HUGE 50% off sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday on her store at Enchanted Studio Scraps! Check out the flier below and click here to go to her ESS store.

Also Stuff to Scrap is having a huge sale, as well. This one runs Saturday and Sunday and is 30% off everything in the store! How fun is that. You can click here to go to the store and see the flyer below.

04 November, 2009

OK. I meant to do this last night but I had to go grocery shopping...then I went to bed at 10 p.m. so it didn't get done. Scraps of Ellay has a new straight to the store kit out called Thanksgiving Weekend...perfect to scrap the pics you took a month ago if you're Canadian and just waiting for Thanksgiving to come if you're American ;). There are some REALLY cute elements in this and, since I didn't have any pictures from this Thanksgiving, I had to scrap a couple other events. I really love how the page of my parents turned out. I don't usually get pictures of them that are this good!

Here are my pages (check out the preview below):

This one also uses a template by Scraps of Ellay and they are available in her store, too!

Here's the preview:

You can click here to go to the store and pick up the kit right now! There are some glitters (which I LOVE) and quickpages there, too!

Before you go just wait a minute!! Scraps of Ellay is also have a CT call. She's looking for a couple more people to add to the team. She is really laid back and easy to work for and she designs really cute kits! Anybody (newbie or experienced) can apply - this was my very first CT when I was brand new so don't be afraid! You can find the details below:

31 October, 2009

First, for the funny story. We don't really do anything for Halloween, but I won't get into that in this post. So, basically, we stay home and hand out candy to the 12 kids that show up at our door. I always buy a ton so we can eat some, too (too much, probably). Anyway, this year we had a couple of families come with little kids (about the same age as ours). The one family came and when I opened the door, their little boy ran right into the living room, sat down and started playing with the boys' cars that were on the living room floor! He totally wasn't interested in the candy or his parents trying to get them to leave. His dad had to come in and pick him up to get him to leave. It was quite funny. That boy certainly wasn't shy!

Anyway, let's get back to the pictures. They're still from September, but I think I actually move into October with this set!! Yay.

Day 263 (Sept 20):

This is a continuation of the weekend we spent in Virden. Here is my sister Michelle and her husband Tyler, posing with the cake the church had gotten to congratulate him on his ordination. He's now a Reverend (though I can't see me using the title too often ;) ).

Day 264 (Sept 21):

Monday Night Football. Out comes the jersey, game goes on the big screen. This is Monday nights from September to January-ish. Jason doesn't really like the new announcers but he still seems to be addicted. Often, the kids want to put their jerseys on, too.

Day 265 (Sept 22):

This was proof that it was actually fall. September 21st or 22nd (I don't remember which one) would have been the first day of fall and this leaf (there were a very few on the ground) was proof that it was fall. In the next picture, you'll see why we needed proof.

Day 266 (Sept 23):

Do you see those numbers in red? Do you see the date at the top? On September 23, 2009 the high was 30 degrees Celsius. This is not normal for this time of year. It certainly did not feel like fall at all!

Day 267 (Sept 24):

I actually won a prize. It doesn't usually happen to me. I had gone to a Mary Kay demonstration with my sister and sister-in-law at the beginning of August. The consultant had put all our names in this draw. I had completely forgotten about it but then got a phone call that I had won. That was pretty cool. It was a bag, some make-up and a pair of sunglasses that are supposed to look good on pretty much anyone. They look horrible on me, so if anyone would like to try a pair of sunglasses, let me know!

Day 268 (Sept 25):

This was a story hour day (when we actually went, cause I don't think we've gone since then). These are Xander and Evan's projects from that day. It was a perfect day as trucks and big machines were the theme. That was the most perfect theme for my boys!

Day 269 (Sept 26):

This was the day we took the boys to see The Backyardigans on stage. It was their first ever function. Here they are in their seats with their tickets. We actually only used two of the four seats because neither of them are heavy enough to comfortably hold down the seats! They really enjoyed it, though. The first half was spent completely enthralled. It got a bit long for Evan but he just walked around our seats, then.

Day 270 (Sept 27):

Here is Xander (Sunday is football day so he's wearing his jersey). He was being so cute and just yelling "Gentlemen, start your engines!" into the Wii microphone. He'll also use it to sing the (American) national anthem just like they do before car races!

Day 271 (Sept 28):

This is Evan's favourite book...NFL Colors. He has to read it every single night! This is his favourite page...I think because he could say it first. He kinda says pu-ple but he loves to say it.

Day 272 (Sept 29):

Here is Evan with one of his purple faces! Both the boys so love blueberries and this is what they look like after eating them. I thought this picture would be great with his favourite colour.

Day 273 (Sept 30):

This week I took both Monday and Tuesday's pictures on Tuesday. This happens on occasion. I had no ideas for a picture on Wednesday. Monday I didn't get any pictures taken because I had fallen asleep on the couch. So, I figured Wednesday's picture could be of the excuse for not taking Monday's on Monday (if that makes any sense to you!!).

Day 274 (Oct 1):

Thursday it rained. Quite a bit. There were puddles and I thought the rain looked really pretty making its little splashes in the puddles so I tried to take a picture of it and this is what I came up with. I think it turned out nice.

Day 275 (Oct 2):

This was my sister-in-law Jodi's birthday but she shared it with Lucas (whose birthday is on the 7th). So, we had a party for both of them that day. I don't have a picture of them together so I decided to go with Lucas and the cute Mario Bros. mushroom cake Jodi made for him.

Day 276 (Oct 3):

I just had to take this picture because of the conversation that revolved around it. I call this Mr. Potato Head's "butt". So, you put stuff in his butt. Of course, with Xander being 3, it ended up with..."What's in Mr. Potato Head's butt?" "Poop" Ha ha ha ha. They just say the most wonderful things!!

Anyway, I'm not caught up, but I'm catching up. At least I'm into October now! However, it is late and I'm tired.